Topic: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

Dear Friends,

Today the discovery of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier takes us into the key of A flat major. A very bright and joyful piece... really fun to play, even if it wasn't very easy to balance the various voices....
Bach Prelude n 17 BWV 862 from WTC 1  is frequently depreciated from an esthetic point of view, and this probably arises from lack of comprehension of the rests in the principal theme, and also from want of a satisfactory clue
to the structure, as regards periods, of the piece. If the first measure be taken as unaccented, i. e. the second as answering to it, and if one read with full measure (from bar-stroke to bar-stroke), the first section is torn into
mere disconnected 2 -measure shreds.
The second period, with which the first section concludes, modulates to the key of the dominant, and opposes a more lively movement to that of the principal thought.
The second section is a fairly faithful reproduction of the first, with inverted voices, but with modulation turned towards the under -side, i. e. to the principal key, and from thence towards that of the under- dominant, so
that, at the end, the principal key is established without
any difficulty.
As to the first section, so also to the second is appended a close-confirmation of one measure, but, in addition, a coda of 8 measures and a one-measure confirmation.
The intentional avoidance of the nearest related minor keys deserves note; even the parallel key is scarcely touched and this, in part, explains the joyful repose of the whole piece.
I hope you like it, playing it was Fantastic for me!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

My actual setting is:

Played on Yamaha P125 piano stage                                          Video Recording Samsung Galaxy A54.
VST: Hamburg Steinway D Pianoteq Stage 8.4.0

https://youtu.be/Sp0JPic9f7U

Last edited by carmelo.paolucci (22-04-2025 10:44)

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

Ah, this is nice ! We can imagine the trumpets on this one.

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

carmelo.paolucci wrote:

Dear Friends,

Today the discovery of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier takes us into the key of A flat major. A very bright and joyful piece... really fun to play, even if it wasn't very easy to balance the various voices....
Bach Prelude n 17 BWV 862 from WTC 1  is frequently depreciated from an esthetic point of view, and this probably arises from lack of comprehension of the rests in the principal theme, and also from want of a satisfactory clue
to the structure, as regards periods, of the piece. If the first measure be taken as unaccented, i. e. the second as answering to it, and if one read with full measure (from bar-stroke to bar-stroke), the first section is torn into
mere disconnected 2 -measure shreds.
The second period, with which the first section concludes, modulates to the key of the dominant, and opposes a more lively movement to that of the principal thought.
The second section is a fairly faithful reproduction of the first, with inverted voices, but with modulation turned towards the under -side, i. e. to the principal key, and from thence towards that of the under- dominant, so
that, at the end, the principal key is established without
any difficulty.
As to the first section, so also to the second is appended a close-confirmation of one measure, but, in addition, a coda of 8 measures and a one-measure confirmation.
The intentional avoidance of the nearest related minor keys deserves note; even the parallel key is scarcely touched and this, in part, explains the joyful repose of the whole piece.
I hope you like it, playing it was Fantastic for me!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

My actual setting is:

Played on Yamaha P125 piano stage                                          Video Recording Samsung Galaxy A54.
VST: Hamburg Steinway D Pianoteq Stage 8.4.0

https://youtu.be/Sp0JPic9f7U

A fine and flawless performance again. Great!

I like the tempo because the prelude itself is very pleasant in nature - I think it is like a menuet! 1 2 3 1 2 3….   

I was listening to the theme in left hand, was looking at sheet and - Amazing, you brought out the theme every time, all the time, in left hand. When it appears in the left hand, I suppose this is hard to do well and you did it wonderfull. Thank you carmelo!
And the long end chord - good!

And I I appreciate your comments about the piece as I found them quite interesting. (...... even the parallel key is scarcely touched and this, in part, explains the joyful repose of the whole piece).

Best wishes,

Stig

Last edited by Pianoteqenthusiast (22-04-2025 22:20)

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

beautiful job Carmelo!  so lively and fun

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

Borealis wrote:

Ah, this is nice ! We can imagine the trumpets on this one.

Thank you so much for your comment and your support Borealis !!!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

Pianoteqenthusiast wrote:
carmelo.paolucci wrote:

Dear Friends,

Today the discovery of Bach's Well-Tempered Clavier takes us into the key of A flat major. A very bright and joyful piece... really fun to play, even if it wasn't very easy to balance the various voices....
Bach Prelude n 17 BWV 862 from WTC 1  is frequently depreciated from an esthetic point of view, and this probably arises from lack of comprehension of the rests in the principal theme, and also from want of a satisfactory clue
to the structure, as regards periods, of the piece. If the first measure be taken as unaccented, i. e. the second as answering to it, and if one read with full measure (from bar-stroke to bar-stroke), the first section is torn into
mere disconnected 2 -measure shreds.
The second period, with which the first section concludes, modulates to the key of the dominant, and opposes a more lively movement to that of the principal thought.
The second section is a fairly faithful reproduction of the first, with inverted voices, but with modulation turned towards the under -side, i. e. to the principal key, and from thence towards that of the under- dominant, so
that, at the end, the principal key is established without
any difficulty.
As to the first section, so also to the second is appended a close-confirmation of one measure, but, in addition, a coda of 8 measures and a one-measure confirmation.
The intentional avoidance of the nearest related minor keys deserves note; even the parallel key is scarcely touched and this, in part, explains the joyful repose of the whole piece.
I hope you like it, playing it was Fantastic for me!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

My actual setting is:

Played on Yamaha P125 piano stage                                          Video Recording Samsung Galaxy A54.
VST: Hamburg Steinway D Pianoteq Stage 8.4.0

https://youtu.be/Sp0JPic9f7U

A fine and flawless performance again. Great!

I like the tempo because the prelude itself is very pleasant in nature - I think it is like a menuet! 1 2 3 1 2 3….   

I was listening to the theme in left hand, was looking at sheet and - Amazing, you brought out the theme every time, all the time, in left hand. When it appears in the left hand, I suppose this is hard to do well and you did it wonderfull. Thank you carmelo!
And the long end chord - good!

And I I appreciate your comments about the piece as I found them quite interesting. (...... even the parallel key is scarcely touched and this, in part, explains the joyful repose of the whole piece).

Best wishes,

Stig

Thank you very much Stig, for your comment and your support!
You are absolutely right: one of the most difficult things in contrapuntal music especially on Bach is to highlight the voices and themes well. It is very difficult when they are in the central alto and tenor voices and often they are divided between the two hands... In this case it is very difficult not to hear differences in accents and intonation of the various notes!
I am really happy that you liked my video! Playing this piece was really fun!!!!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

budo wrote:

beautiful job Carmelo!  so lively and fun

Thank you very much for your comment Budo !!!!
You are absolutely right it was a really fun piece to play !!! Really beautiful !
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

Hello Carmelo,
your recording is very well done. Your interpretation is very beautiful. I have listened to the recording several times.
Best regards
J. Unruh

Translated DeepL

Re: Nev video Bach Prelude n 17 in A flat Major Pianoteq BWV 862

J. Unruh wrote:

Hello Carmelo,
your recording is very well done. Your interpretation is very beautiful. I have listened to the recording several times.
Best regards
J. Unruh

Translated DeepL

Thank you so much Unruh for your comment and your support! I'm really happy you've enjoyed my video!
Greetings from Italy
Carmelo